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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816234">shrinking violet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelpetals/pseuds/pastelpetals'>pastelpetals</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood Friends, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, am I tagging this right</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:21:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>815</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelpetals/pseuds/pastelpetals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“She looks as she did when she accidentally cut him with gardening shears all those years ago, curling into herself like a shrinking violet. A phantom pain aches inside him.”</p><p>— a rewrite/mini-novelization of Yuri and Bernadetta’s A support </p><p>[HIATUS]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/Bernadetta von Varley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>shrinking violet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yuri sees how her hands clench into the fabric of her sleeves, arms crossed defensively over her chest. He had managed to corner her in the training hall after nearly a month of avoidance on her end, and their little game of cat-and-mouse was beginning to grow stale. His eyes, usually calm and calculating, are furrowed in exasperation as he studies her chewed lip and averted gaze.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It doesn’t sit right with him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In their youth, Bernadetta tended to act askance on numerous occasions, but it was never towards </span> <span class="s2"><em>him</em>.</span> <span class="s1"> No, reserved for him was the sensation of fingers curled against his back and shy, sweet gazes that held nothing but affection, that stirred him in ways he never thought possible. While he was mostly wits and facades, she was soft and earnest. They balanced each other well, in his purely unbiased opinion.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But then nearly a decade and a half bid them part, and here they stood, complete strangers. It was as though he really did run the blade across her throat, or into her heart, that one night. The warmth had been left to bleed between them, his nails digging crescents into his palms as he realized years too late.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He had come seeking to make amends by exposing the truth, and Bernadetta’s reaction was more inquisitive in nature than repulsed as he had initially feared. It had been going — dare he say it — rather smoothly, but of course he should have expected that her father was relentless in bestowing him misfortune; the mere mention of the count sent the conversation spiraling.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You really think that about my father?” Bernadetta’s trembling voice had adopted an incredulous edge. “That I was lucky? That he was looking out for me?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yuri barely recalls the last time she had sounded truly resentful. She had a proclivity for childish petulance, but to see her so tense and still was another thing entirely.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yuri steps forward, tentative, a hand breaching their distance. “Bernadetta, I—“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I-If he really was, I don’t think he’d have a-always told me how unmarriageable or...or how useless I was,” she hiccups. Tears frame her apprehensive expression. Abruptly, he remembers her head in his lap, quieting as he gently worked his fingers through her hair. Her cheeks had remained red but dry. “He never would have left me t-tied me to a chair, o-or challenged me to k-keep quiet all day, among other t-things.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His brows furrow at the revelation. Was that why she would disappear for days at a time? Why she would cling to him desperately when she returned from those odd intervals, and whimper pitifully if he did so much as leave her side? He always had his suspicions, but it was not the kind of business gardening assistants had reason sticking their heads into. The servants of the estate never addressed it outright, but whatever he was privy to, he held close, precious bits of speculation that might potentially hold merit. It was reconnaissance, he told himself, and information made for deadly armament.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It was absolutely not because he was concerned for his target — </span> <span class="s2"> <em>friend</em></span><span class="s1">, his traitor mind supplied — and definitely unrelated to how her soft smiles gave — </span> <span class="s2"> <em>gives</em> </span> <span class="s1"> (he forces the thought down) — him heart palpitations.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Bernadetta, I promise you, my intention for talking to you today didn’t involve dredging up painful memories,” Yuri says firmly, his hand withdrawn. He needs to salvage this. Her eyes are vulnerable, haunting. She looks as she did when she accidentally cut him with gardening shears all those years ago, curling into herself like a shrinking violet. A phantom pain aches inside him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“And I can promise <em>you</em>,” Bernadetta whispers to the scuffed floor, “that my father </span> <span class="s2"> <em>was</em> </span> <span class="s1"> protective of me, but it wasn’t out of love. I was a thing that belonged to him, a doll he was free to mold however he liked.” She shivers from something unseen. “And he could be really picky when he wanted to be, you know? He’d do whatever it took for me to be a good, submissive wife.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The pain inside him flares into something vicious and hot.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly, Bernadetta lurches forward, her eyes wide and blush fierce. “A-Ah, sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to talk so much! Or sound so accusing! Please forget everything you just heard! It’s not you, it’s me! Oh goddess, if my family hears about this, I’m done for! Mercy...!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As she runs off, her words linger in Yuri’s mind. He knows he’ll have to ambush her again to properly apologize. There are still many things he has yet to do, but between processing the atrocities of Count Varley and valiantly suppressing the emotions Bernadetta has rekindled, tangled, and left behind, he needs the time to prepare a plan of action.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the greenhouse, sundews bask peacefully in the light.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s3"> <em> <b>Bernadetta and Yuri have attained support level A.</b> </em> </span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a/n: i wasn’t very satisfied with the a-support for Yuri/Bernadetta so i took it into my own hands...and probably made everyone and everything very ooc. i’ve never written for either character before so i don’t think i’ve quite nailed their voices, apologies!! if some of the dialogue looks familiar, that’s bc i pulled some lines from Byleth and Bernadetta’s support!</p><p>i literally wrote this in one sitting in an all-nighter, so it hasn’t been beta-read, but i love this pairing a lot and i wanted to contribute something, however little.</p><p>of course, there will be an A+ support to resolve this little predicament and hopefully it’ll be out soon!! i have an outline of how i want this to go, so fingers crossed!!</p><p>as always, thank you for reading!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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